| Summary: | We estimate the mass loss rate of Upernavik Isstroem using surface elevation changes between a SPOT 5 Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from 2008 and NASA’s Airborne Topographic Mapper (ATM) data from 2010. To assess the validity of our mass loss estimate, we analyze GPS data between 2007 and 2011 from two continuous receivers, UPVK and SRMP which are established on bedrock and located ~65 and ~2 km from the front of UI, respectively. We construct along-track elevation changes on UI for several time intervals during 2005 – 2011, based on ATM, SPOT 5 and Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) data to assess temporal changes of UI. We estimate a mass loss rate of -6.7 +/- 4.2 Gt/yr, over an area of ~1600 km^2. The ice mass loss occurs primarily over the northern glacier of UI. This pattern is also observed ~40 km upstream, where we observe glacier thinning at a rate of -1.6 +/- 0.3 m/yr across the northern portion of UI and -0.5 +/-0.1 m/yr across the southern portion. We obtain a difference of 0.6 mm/yr between the modeled and observed relative uplift rates at SRMP relative to UPVK, suggesting that the mass loss of UI is well captured in the model. We observe elevation changes from -15 to -40 m/yr near the front during the period 2005 – 2011, indicating that UI undergoes large variations in thinning pattern over short time spans.
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